Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration will not refund $7.7 million in red light camera tickets it collected after quietly lowering the yellow light standard, the city's transportation chief said Tuesday.
The mayor told the Tribune earlier this month that he would consider refunds, but Chicago Department of Transportation chief Rebekah Scheinfeld made it clear that would not be happening -- even though the city made a determination in September to restore the longer yellow light standard.
"These were violations of the law, they were legitimate tickets and we stand behind them," Scheinfeld said at a City Council hearing on red light cameras. "But going forward we want to make sure the situation is not distracted with continuing questions about this, and that we have full public confidence."
She was responding to a question from Ald. Jason Ervin, 28th, during the Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee hearing in the wake of a series of Chicago Tribune investigative reports. Those stories documented alleged bribes, unexplained spikes in tickets and a $7.7 million windfall for the city this year from the 77,000 tickets issued under the yellow light change.
The city had previously ordered its longtime camera vendor, Redflex Traffic Systems Inc., to throw out any tickets if the yellow light interval fell below the city's three-second standard, according to city Inspector General Joseph Ferguson. But when new vendor Xerox State & Local Traffic Solutions took over for the fired Redflex in February, the city directed the vendor to accept tickets that showed yellow light times above 2.9 seconds, Ferguson said in a recent review prompted by Tribune stories.
Scheinfeld told aldermen Tuesday that the decision was based on the advice of "professional engineers" working for CDOT but did not identify who specifically in the Emanuel administration ordered Xerox to go with the lower standard.
She repeated her previous statements that the city relied on national electrical standards that allow for deviations in the hundredths or thousandths of a second. She said the time of yellow interval for most of the tickets fell milliseconds below the 3-second threshold and were "imperceptible to the human eye."
Don Bransford, a red light camera critic who testified at the hearing, said the extra $7.7 million "coincidentally" helped the city meet projected red light camera revenue for the year. But Scheinfeld said the decision was made by CDOT based on engineering standards "independent ... of the Department of Finance."
Most of the aldermen at the hearing, however, were supportive of the program, saying it has helped make the city safer. Three aldermen, including Ervin, said they were hit in accidents at intersections and were glad the city has been taking steps since 2003 through the system to enhance safety.
"I love the red light cameras," said Ald. Deb Mell, 33rd. "I think it's great. I think people drive too fast in the city."
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